Saudi Arabia unveils new AI partners

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Saudi Arabia has announced a new wave of artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships and initiatives with global technology giants to improve the state of its local ecosystem.

According to Minister Abdullah bin Amer Alswaha, the combined worth of AI-themed initiatives is valued at $14.9 billion and is intended to make Saudi Arabia the undisputed leader in the region. Alswaha disclosed his keynote address at the 2025 LEAP Tech Conference with several global players in attendance.

The minister unveiled a $1.5 million partnership between Aramco and Groq to design AI-powered cloud computing capabilities for the oil giant. Aramco, the seventh largest company by market capitalization, is keen on revolutionizing its operations with emerging technologies, and AI is firmly on its radar.

Rather than lean entirely on Groq, Aramco executives are mulling new deals with global technology players to achieve their AI objectives in the coming years.

“Our business is about scale,” said Ahmad Al-Khowaiter, Aramco’s VP of tech and innovation. “That’s why we need to partner, and no one company can deliver the promise of AI. It has to be a partnership, it has to be many companies that put in place the technologies that we need.”

Local manufacturing behemoth Alat and Lenovo (NASDAQ: LNVGY) have inked a $2 billion investment for the rollout of an AI-based manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia. The agreement will see Lenovo set up shop in Riyadh, a move that is expected to contribute economic benefits to Saudi Arabia.

Global technology giants like Salesforce (NASDAQ: CRM), Tencent (NASDAQ: TCEHY), SambaNova, and Databricks have pledged over $3 billion in local AI investments in the Gulf nation. On the other hand, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Alibaba Cloud (NASDAQ: BABAF) are jostling for market share in cloud and AI technology, splurging billions in local partnerships.

The capital injections follow Saudi Arabia’s previous $40 billion AI investment in the sector, focusing on developing new data centers and a commitment to renewable energy.

“We are fairly well positioned to be an AI hub outside of the US,” said Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). “AI will consume a lot of energy and we are the global leader when it comes to fossil fuel energy and when it comes to renewable energy.”

A string of initiatives

Saudi Arabia has the “political will” to achieve its AI objectives, rolling out several government-backed initiatives. A plan to deepen the AI talent pool in the country in mid-2024 has gained traction, training over 7,000 residents with several local firms unveiling AI strategies.

Keen to wade away from Western influences, Saudi Arabia has rolled out its localized large language model (LLM) to capture the nuances of Arab culture. Currently, Saudi Arabia is in an arms race with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for emerging technology dominance.

Altman rejects Musk’s $97.4 billion offer to buy OpenAI, makes a counteroffer for X

In other news, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has rejected a $97.4 billion offer to purchase the ChatGPT maker from a group of investors led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Altman took to X (formerly Twitter) to reject the proposal while offering to purchase the social media platform from Musk for $9.74 billion. Musk took ownership of X in 2022 following a highly publicized acquisition process for a staggering $44 billion.

“No thank you,” wrote Altman on X. “But we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

The consortium of investors led by Musk formally tendered a $97.4 billion offer to buy OpenAI, citing a need to keep its offerings open-source. The group of investors comprising xAI, Baron Capital, 8VC, and VyCapital is prepared to beat any competing offers, but it is unclear if OpenAI is entertaining other bids.

“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” said Marc Toberoff, legal counsel for Musk. “We will make sure that happens.”

Musk’s offer comes on the heels of OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit enterprise after years of middling as a non-profit organization. Launched in 2015 as a charity with Musk as co-founder, OpenAI has since rolled out a for-profit subsidiary to power its technological innovation, becoming the global powerhouse for generative AI.

While the firm has raised funds from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and a pool of investors, Altman is placing the final pieces of the puzzle to see the subsidiary transform into its own enterprise, independent of the non-profits. Experts claim the original non-profit will still own equity in the newly-minted enterprise.

Altman argues that the bid is an attempt to undermine the giant strides made by OpenAI and to give sole control of the firm to an individual.

“Our structure ensures that no individual can take control of OpenAI,” said Altman. “These are tactics to try and weaken us because we are making great progress.”

A nasty row

Musk has instituted several lawsuits against OpenAI, revolving around claims that the firm operates contrary to its original mission as a non-profit. Critics have since poked holes in Musk’s argument, citing previous emails between the duo where the Tesla CEO conceded that the OpenAI would have to earn money to fund its operations.

OpenAI is currently valued at $157 billion following a Q4 funding round in 2024, but there are rumors of a $260 billion valuation in the coming week, led by a $40 billion capital injection by Softbank (NASDAQ: SFTBY). The company’s monthly revenue climbed to $300 million, a nearly 2,000% rise over a year since it began charging $20 monthly for its premium services.

In order for artificial intelligence (AI) to work right within the law and thrive in the face of growing challenges, it needs to integrate an enterprise blockchain system that ensures data input quality and ownership—allowing it to keep data safe while also guaranteeing the immutability of data. Check out CoinGeek’s coverage on this emerging tech to learn more why Enterprise blockchain will be the backbone of AI.

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